Searching for the Light
by eiensora
Summary: Continuation of the anime. Will mostly focus on Syaoran and Sakura. Planning to end it in 26 chapters. Permanent hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: First try at fanfic. Flame me if you want… I really don't mind.**

**Disclaimers: I don't own anything here… plus I'm broke. Don't sue me…**

**TSUBASA RESERVOIR CHRONICLES**

**SEARCHING FOR THE LIGHT**

**CHAPTER 1: ANOTHER WORLD**

They were traveling the currents of time and space once again. The previous world that they were dumped in was dreary, to say the least but they found a way to retrieve all of Sakura's feather without having to do anymore world skipping. But, Sakura had cast aside her problems and wished instead, for the revival of all the people in the graves under the floating shrine.

Syaoran was surprised at her selfless request, as was Fai and Kurogane who were still fighting somewhere in that place. However they have always known of Sakura-hime's kind heart. Syaoran had witnessed it ever since he first arrived at Clow Kingdom when Sakura had smiled at him. He felt really welcomed then.

Fai and Kurogane had just joined them for only a short time but throughout their journey together, they had also learned of Sakura's kindness. So, it really wasn't that surprising that Sakura would chose to help others, ignoring her own plight.

After that incident, Mokona once again worked its magic and they were on their way to another foreign world. Maybe this time they'll be able to gather Sakura's feathers.

A bright flash of light enveloped them as they arrived in another world… Syaoran blinked, why did he feel as if he were floating? He looked down at his feet and practically jumped.

They were indeed floating in a vast expanse of blue sky. There was nothing solid beneath their feet but they were not plummeting to the ground at high speeds. Syaoran noted that the surrounding seemed bare of anything. The blue sky stretched on as far as the eye could see with no signs of any living thing in the vicinity.

Both Fai and Kurogane were looking around, surprised at where they ended up, too. Syaoran concluded that this was also not one of their worlds. So, it's another foreign world with foreign customs… again. He hoped that they would not be required to register their names again…

Looking around, he noticed that Sakura was missing… as was Mokona. Panic starts to dawn on him as he whirled around in his position to see if he could locate their missing forms. He did not want to step around anywhere in this weird place. If he misplaced his steps, he could really plummet to the ground below.

"Hime! Mokona!" he shouted, looking in all directions for them.

Fai and Kurogane finally noticed that they were missing some party members and joined in the search, both shouting in their own language. Mokona was not only their way of traveling to worlds but it was also their interpreter, of sorts. Since they were all from different worlds, their spoken languages were also dissimilar. Without Mokona, they were not able to communicate with each other, much less talk with the inhabitants there.

After a few minutes of fruitless search, Syaoran saw the figures of two people running towards them. He squinted at the image as they got closer and recognize them as Sakura and Mokona.

"Hime! Mokona!" he cried and moved towards them at a run followed by Fai and Kurogane.

"Syaoran-kun!" Sakura saw him and with Mokona in her arms, she moved towards his direction.

As they got closer to each other, Syaoran noticed a large group of people trailing right behind Sakura. As Sakura fell into his arms in relieve, he asked her if she was alright.

Before she could answer, Mokona jumped onto his head and spoke:

"Run! Run! Sakura-chan, Syaoran-san, Fai-san, Kurotan! Bad, bad people behind us!" it said, pointing to the crowd who were gaining on them.

"I told you not to call me that!" Kurogane answered with a shout, which indicated that they were once again able to understand each other's speech.

Glancing at the crowd in front of them, they could see that those people weren't looking friendly and ran hurriedly in the opposite direction. (One would wonder why they were running away when they could easily dispatch those people. Well, they weren't going to endanger the princess now, would they? She would definitely get hurt if they were fighting in such a place. )

"Mokona, where are we headed?" Fai questioned in his usual calm voice, ignoring the fact that they were still running from their pursuers.

"You're wasting your breath! That manju couldn't possibly know where we are! Much less know where we're going!" Kurogane huffs, wondering why he was even running from those people behind them. Apparently, being with them for so long had somewhat blurred his decision-making skills.

"Mokona knows! Mokona has been here with Yuuko before! Head straight! There's a big city ahead! Lots and lots of people!" countered the slightly put-off manju. It knew that ninja had social issues but that doesn't mean that he could insult Mokona like that. Mokona is much smarter than it looks, you know…

They made their way towards the direction Mokona tells them to and arrived at a huge city with gigantic gates. Unfortunately, the gates were closed so they couldn't enter the city. Turning around, the group of savage-looking people was closing in on them.

Syaoran gently pushed Sakura behind him to protect her from those people while grasping his newly-acquired sword in his left hand. He wasn't about to let them harm a hair of Sakura's if he has anything to say about it.

Kurogane too, readied himself in an attacking stance. If they thought he would go down that easily then they were in for a great surprise. He wasn't about to lose to a bunch of foreign savages before he could go back home and give Tomoyo-hime a piece of his mind.

Fai, however, was standing next to Sakura, holding Mokona in his hands. He looked towards the incoming crowd disinterestedly as he leaned against the city gates.

As the crowd came even closer, shouts were heard from above them. Looking upwards, they saw arrows shooting out of the many square holes that appeared in the city's outer wall. The arrows rained down on the savage-looking group and they ran back the way they came from without much of a fight.

As Syaoran breathed a sigh of relieve, an astonished gasp from Fai caught his attention and he turned. The huge city gate that Fai was leaning on opened inwards causing Fai to fall on his rear (hee hee… ). He got up slowly and brushed the dust off himself in his usual calm manner as a heavily-armored person approached them.

At that moment, Mokona jumped towards the person who caught it with a gauntleted hand. Removing his visor with his other hand, they could see that it was a great-bearded man who smiled in recognition at Mokona.

"Well, well… If it isn't Mokona! How's Yuuko doing?" he asked in a deep voice, making Mokona giggle.

"Yuuko not with Mokona! Mokona on assignment with these people! Phil-san, how are you?" Mokona rattled off happily, jumping up and down in the man's hand.

The man gave a loud laughter and turned towards Syaoran and the others.

"Well, travelers from other worlds, I am Phil de Raunfaust. This world you're in is known as Eraundia, and this city is the floating city of Azurein, the capital of Eraundia. I hope you find your stay here pleasant," he welcomed them, smiling broadly.

**Note: How was it? If there's anything wrong, be it the characters name or whatnot; please inform me so I can correct them immediately.**

**Thanksfor reading! (I hope someone reads this…)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: Alright, the second chapter of this title. Ready?**

**Disclaimer: As I've said, I don't own anything. I'm even more broke than the last time I updated this… So please, don't sue me…**

**TSUBASA RESERVOIR CHRONICLES**

**SEARCHING FOR THE LIGHT**

**CHAPTER 2: A STRANGE COUNTRY**

They were invited to Phil's estate to rest up after the scare that welcomed them when they arrived. All along the way, Syaoran noticed that there were no women among the crowd of people walking about the place. There were no children running about either, a fact which puzzles him somewhat.

As he was about to comment to Phil on the lack of female population, he felt Sakura holding onto his arm. Query forgotten for the moment, he turned his head towards her with a questioning look.

"Syaoran-kun… those people… are looking at us…" she whispered softly, her hold on his arm tightening.

He turned and looked around. The crowd of people had paused in whatever they were doing and had fixed their attentions towards their group… or, more specifically, on Sakura. Some of them wore expressions of puzzlement, while others just gawked openly.

Syaoran decided that he did not like the attention they were showing towards Sakura and moved closer to her. Placing a hand on Sakura's, he smiled reassuringly at her, a gesture that made Sakura smile timidly at him in return.

After a few minutes of brisk walking, they arrived at a mansion surrounded by fir-like trees. Phil strode over to the mansion's entrance and pushed open the door. Biding them to enter first, he followed soon after and closed the large doors with a resounding click.

"Well travelers, this is my home. It may look big on the outside but in truth, it's really a small place…" Phil said, making a sweeping motion with his hand over the area.

They were standing in the middle of a huge empty space with the violet-colored carpet underneath them as the only furniture. A few steps away was a great stairway leading to the upper portion of the mansion.

"Hiu it's such a big place!" commented Fai with his trademark sound of a whistle.

"Yes, yes! But, Phil-san, why is it so empty? Don't you have enough money to buy more things?" piped Mokona making Phil laugh again.

"No, Mokona. It's because I've just moved in and was too busy to fill this place up!" replied Phil as he handed Mokona to the person standing nearest to him… Kurogane.

The latter gave Phil a look which says: 'why do I have to take it?' before reluctantly stretching his hand out to let Mokona shift places. The manju in turn, happy that Kuro-wan didn't make as much fuss as before, instantly jumped onto the outstretched hand with a slight giggle.

Following Phil to the upper part of the place, they were soon seated around a dining table laden with food. Syaoran was about to start questioning Phil but was stopped by Phil shaking his head.

"I know you have many questions to ask me but that can wait. Eat first and we'll talk later. I also need to get out of this heavy armor…" he mentioned before disappearing into an adjoining room.

"Well then… shall we eat?" Fai urged with his usual laid-back smile before piling his plate with food from the table.

Mokona soon followed by hopping to one plate and then another, sampling the various dishes without restraint. Kurogane just glared at the happy manju with his arms crossed over his chest as Sakura and Syaoran waited for their host to reappear.

Phil came into the room a few moments later, wearing simple clothes that were almost alike to theirs and taking his place at the head of the table. Once he had seated himself, Kurogane, Sakura and Syaoran began to dine.

Seated comfortably around a fireplace after their meal, Phil began to talk.

"So, I hear that you're traveling to retrieve the young lady's memories… Mokona mentioned that it's in the shape of feathers?"

"Yes. Phil-san, could you tell us if there's anything strange happening around here recently?" Syaoran asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"Strange? Yes, as a matter of fact, something strange has been happening three years ago…" Phil answered; a worried look clouded his jovial face.

"Three years ago, the king found something while he was walking around in the gardens with the queen… No one knows what the king found but days after that incident, the king was found quarrelling with the queen. They were usually very loving towards each other but…

"Later, it was known that the queen was trying to get the 'thing' that they had found in the gardens but the king would not hear of it and denied her… She got angry and threatened to leave if he didn't fulfill her request, which the king didn't, so she left during the night, bringing along all the women and children of the kingdom with her…

"No one knows how she managed to bring a whole group of people out of the barred city gates… The next day, when the people found out that their women and children were gone, they petitioned the king to send out search parties to find them but there were no traces left of them…

"That was why your lady friend there caught so many attentions earlier. The people were surprised at finding her in the city… but she'll be safe here… There's no one in this house now except for me… and I think they will not be so foolish as to break into the house of a knight," Phil explained, noticing Syaoran's worried expression as he mentioned about the lack of women in the kingdom.

"Who were those bunch of people who were chasing us earlier?" Kurogane asked suddenly, after remaining quiet for almost the whole day.

"Kuro-wan speaks! Kuro-wan speaks!" Mokona chanted, bobbing excitedly on the table where it was placed.

"Shut up! And I told you not to call me that!" Kurogane retorted, glaring daggers at the white manju who always found ways to irritate him.

"Come on, Kuro-rin. Mokona was just happy that you finally found your voice…" Fai interrupted cheerfully earning a warning look from said ninja.

"Um… they were the people who refused to move into the floating city… They said that it was not meant for humans to live amidst the skies… Something about defiling the land of the gods…" Phil answered, breaking the ensuing clash.

"Then… this place was not originally here?" Syaoran inquired.

"No, this floating city was found three years ago… after the women and children had left the kingdom…"

"Sakura's feather…" Syaoran said to himself softly.

"Oh, but it would be better if you could speak to the king directly about it… He might know the whereabouts of your lady friend's… feather," Phil added smiling.

"When…?"

"I've already sent a messenger to the king earlier today about your arrival. He would be able to give you an audience tomorrow morning," Phil answered before Syaoran could finish his sentence.

Standing up from his seat, Phil gestured to Sakura, who was already asleep leaning against the armrest of the couch she was seating in.

"The bedrooms are at the end of the hallway. I'll bring you to the king in the morning then," he informed their group and exited the room.

As Syaoran gently lifted Sakura up and placed her in a room, Kurogane, Mokona and Fai were still arguing about the many subjects that they disagreed on.

**Note: Okay… This chapter feels a bit off… But, what was to be expected of a work done in the middle of the night? **

**Anyways, thanks for reading! (I wonder how many reviews I'll get this time?)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: Third chapter… This one's going to be quite long, so bear with me… **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything… Poor me… sniff**

**TSUBASA RESERVOIR CHRONICLES**

**SEARCHING FOR THE LIGHT **

**CHAPTER 3: REVELATIONS**

They were in the castle of the king. In truth, they were still waiting for the king to receive them at the audience hall. Phil had brought them to the castle hours ago and had told them to 'wait for a moment' while he went to inform the king of their arrival. But…

"How much longer are we going to wait!" Kurogane yells from his position against the wall.

The few guards in the room yelped in terror and evacuated the area for the safety of an adjoining room. Syaoran wondered how they were selected to be a castle guard in the first place if they were so easily frightened by… Well, Kurogane IS a bit scary, but that doesn't excuse them from…

"Patience is a virtue, Kuro-rin…" Fai stated helpfully, breaking Syaoran's line of thought and also earning himself a glare from the ninja.

"Yes, yes! Fai-san is right! Kuro--" Mokona quips and was interrupted by a huge fruit-bowl devouring him. (Actually, Kurogane just emptied the contents of the aforesaid fruit-bowl and cupped it over Mokona… Hee hee )

"Mou! You're sooooo mean, Kuro-wan!" Mokona complains, his voice muffled from being under the bowl.

A soft sound of what seems to be a giggle was heard then and they turned their heads in that direction. Sakura was holding a hand over her mouth trying to cover the sound that escaped from her a moment ago.

"I… I'm sorry…" she apologized meekly, observing their looks on her.

"Sakura-chan, it's not wrong to laugh, so don't apologize for it. Besides," Fai added humorously, "Kuro-rin is being really mean to poor Mokona lately…"

"I'm not mean! That manju is always annoying me! …And how many times need I tell you not to call me that!" Kurogane retorts, even louder this time.

"Hiu Kuro-chan is angry…" comments Fai, his usual smile plastered on his face.

Before things could get any worse, Phil enters the room.

"I'm really sorry to keep you waiting. The king is very busy but he is ready to meet all of you now. This way, please," Phil said and lead their group to a very spacious room where a man in his mid-thirties was pacing around.

"Phil? Are these the outworlders that you mentioned?" the man asked and moved towards them in a hurry.

"Yes, sire. I'll take my leave now," Phil bows and exits the room shutting the door behind him.

The man, (who is the king, if you are still clueless) looks intently at them for a while before inviting them to be seated on the chairs in the room. Syaoran noted that he seems agitated for some reason.

"Let's get straight to the point. Phil mentioned that you're looking for the lady's memory-feathers?" the king questioned as soon as they were seated.

"Yes, your majesty. Have you come across it?" Syaoran asks.

"…Y- yes… Yes, I have it once… But it was stolen from me! Phil told you about the incident three years ago, right?"

When Syaoran nodded, he continued:

"My wife… Gwen… she wanted it for herself, that selfish woman… She wanted it's powers so she could control the lives of the people of the land! …She wanted to be god herself!

"I… I tried to stop her… I told her 'no' and she threatened me! I thought it was just her anger speaking so I didn't take her seriously but… the next day… All of the women and children were gone! She… she vanished them… and herself!

"I… tried to find her… and the missing ones… but there were no trail… So… I was afraid… Afraid that she would harm the remaining people of Azurein… I used the power of the God's feather to elevate the whole kingdom into the skies… so she won't be able to find us…

"But… she did! She came here two days ago and… and stole the God's feather! I… was so afraid that she… would cause this city to fall back towards the ground but… she hasn't made it yet… Maybe… maybe soon she'll…

"Oh please! Please, stop her! This city… the people… they're innocent! She… she could take her revenge on me if she wants but… but leave the people alone! Oh god…"

They were pretty surprised by the king's outburst and were silent for along time. The king was making hysterical noises and muttering something incoherent whilst rubbing his hands nervously all the time.

"Syaoran-kun…" Sakura whispers, catching his attention.

He leaned towards her to hear her more clearly.

"Syaoran-kun… I… I think we should help him… It's… all because of me that they're suffering… It's because of my feather…" her voice sounds really depressed.

"Hime…" Syaoran looks at her worriedly. Why has she to suffer so much? It's not her fault that people with greed uses the power from her feather for their own selfish needs… If only I could help ease her pain…

"We'll help you out," Syaoran informs the king suddenly, making the king to stare at him disbelievingly.

"R-really? You're really going to help me?" he asks, his eyes shining.

"Yes. But when we find the feather, we'll have to keep it… It's Sakura-hime's…" Syaoran stresses.

"Oh, of course! It belongs to her after all! I would gladly return it!" the king agrees instantly, smiling so wide.

"She… My wife, Gwen… I think she's with those people who were attacking you yesterday… I… kind of… sensed her presence there… when I still have the feather, that is…

"Be careful! They… will try to turn you against me… I don't know how… But… don't listen to what they say! They're… Oh, what am I saying? I trust all of you completely!

"They live east of this city. Just follow um… the sun… yes, the morning sun! You'll reach their hideout… Please make her… my wife return the women and children of the city… safely… please…" the king finishes.

Quickly rising from his seat, he ran towards Syaoran and grabs his hand, pumping them up and down so hard while thanking him innumerable times before opening the door for them to leave.

As the door shuts behind their backs, Phil approaches them worriedly.

"I hope you'll excuse the king… He's… really depressed on losing the God's treasure…"

"He seems pathetic…" Kurogane exclaims making Phil stiffen and gave him a not-so-friendly look.

"Kuro-wan… You shouldn't say such things about the poor man… He's already so sad!" Fai counters quickly, pouting at the ninja.

Before Kurogane could say any more, Syaoran informs Phil that they would help to retrieve the stolen 'treasure'.

Phil relaxes a little and smiles reluctantly. After escorting them back to his mansion for them to rest and prepare for the journey ahead, he left to perform his duties.

"Syaoran-kun…" Sakura calls him as he sees her to her room later that night.

"Yes, hime?" he replies, giving her a smile.

"Um… thank you…" she whispers, and looks down at her hands.

When Syaoran gave no reply, she elaborates:

"Thank you… for helping me search for my feathers… even when it's so out of your way… you still helped me… Thank you, Syaoran-kun," at this she looks up at him and smiles sweetly.

Syaoran returns the smile and as he closed the door of her room, he leaned against the wall, his face turned upwards.

"_Poor kid…" _Kurogane thought to himself, hidden in the shadows of the darkened corridor leading to the rooms.

The clouds outside darkened and the rumbling sound of thunder in the distance were heard. It never rains in this floating kingdom, for the kingdom lies above the clouds, but… down below, droplets of water were falling rapidly.

**Note: Phew! Another chapter done! I think this is better than the previous one… What do you think? **

**Anyways, thanks for reading! Drop me a line if there is anything 'off' with the characters or their names or… anything. **

**Wonder how many reviews I'll get this time?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Note: Sorry for the long wait… I'll try to write faster this time.**

**Disclaimer: Do. Not. Own. Anything. Period.**

**TSUBASA RESERVOIR CHRONICLES**

**SEARCHING FOR THE LIGHT**

**CHAPTER 4: COUNTDOWN**

Setting out of the city at daylight, they realized that the sun that they were supposed to follow was just a big ball of golden light in the distance. Perhaps this world's sun is different from the other worlds they've come across.

Making sure that his sword was firmly secured around his waist; he turned towards Sakura and gave her a reassuring smile. She seems happier today and that was more than enough for him.

Fai and Kurogane were pretty quiet today… maybe it's a sign that their current quest would be accomplished without any detours… Smiling to himself, Syaoran took a step forward… and fell through the clouds. The last thing he heard was the cry of Sakura, calling him before blacking out.

**(From this point on the story will be split into three different POVs: namely, Syaoran's, Kurogane's, and Fai's. I'm trying to be more creative since I feel that the story is getting a bit monotonous in the last episodes… Tell me if you think this is a bad idea)**

Syaoran woke up in a dimly lit room and he noticed that he was lying on the hard ground. He shook his head to clear it and glanced around. It seems he was alone here… and the room's pretty empty besides from a large barrel in a corner. Placing a hand to the place where his sword is supposed to be, he realized that it was already taken away from him. Well, he could always get it back if he can only get out of this place.

Suddenly, he was worried about Sakura. What had happened to her after he had fallen from the floating city? As he approached what seems to be the door, the sound of footsteps made him dart quickly behind the barrel. Crouching down behind it, he readied himself to rush through the door if it was opened.

The footsteps came closer and he could hear pieces of their conversation, even without Mokona. Something about… strangers and mistress and… did they mention 'feather'? Tensing at the mention of it, he heard the sound of keys as they unlocked the door to his cell.

As soon as the door was swung open, he sprinted forward, knocking one of them to the ground and barely escaping the clutches of the other. Running through the tunnels of the place, he soon saw a glimmer in a room up ahead. He made his way towards it, in hopes of finding an exit or his friends or his sword or…

Reaching the entrance, he stopped; and realized that he was standing in a wide cavern illuminated by the torches that were placed against the walls. So, that means that he was somewhere underground… In the middle of the cavern was a pedestal with something round floating over it.

Moving closer to inspect it, he saw that it was another feather belonging to Sakura. Oddly though, it was encased in a clear orb and was emitting a strange bluish glow, as it hovered on the pedestal waiting for someone to take it.

Stepping forward cautiously, he reached out a hand to take it when a woman appeared at an opening on the opposite and shouted something at him. Taking her to be another enemy, he quickly grabbed the feather and bolted towards the way he came from, the woman hot on his heels.

As he once again wove his way in the tunnels, he spotted Mokona jumping out of the hands of another person not far off. Mokona seems to notice him however and when Syaoran ran past the manju without pausing, it attached itself to Syaoran's cape and managed to escape from the hands of the person who was restraining it earlier.

"Syaoran, we were worried about you! We were so surprised when you fell through the clouds. Kuro-wan leaped after you as Fai-san failed to stop him. Mokona was unfortunate to be caught in the cape of Kuro-wan and was dragged along… It was so frightening!" Mokona informed Syaoran as he continued to run in the direction that he believes to be the exit.

"Sakura-hime?" he asked briefly before spotting bright light ahead.

"Sakura-chan was with Fai-san when Kuro-wan leapt after you… Mokona doesn't know what happen later…" it said dejectedly, sounding sorry that it did not have more assuring news to give Syaoran.

"Don't worry Mokona. I'm sure the hime is fine with Fai-san…" Syaoran said as they finally reached the exit.

Syaoran shielded his eyes with his hands as they reached the outside. It took him a few moments to adapt to the brightness and he turned around slowly to identify his location. They were standing on a fairly vast grassy plain with the cave that they had just come out of behind them. Quite some distance away was a great big tree whose branches seemed to touch the sky.

"Syaoran… I think we should get away from this place…" Mokona whined as it turned around to look at the cave's entrance warily.

Nodding his agreement, he moved towards the tree, which was the only place where they could hide… for now.

Meanwhile, Kurogane was having trouble understanding the unintelligible speech the people around him were having. Seeing the kid dropped through a hole in the clouds had caused him to jump hurriedly, (albeit foolishly he noted afterwards) after him. Now, said ninja was having second thoughts on his 'heroic' stunt.

After he had jumped after Syaoran, he noticed Mokona entangled in his cape (find it hard to picture this… ) and was busy scolding the manju that he landed on the branches of some humongous tree and was stuck. Syaoran, however, had fallen right on top of some bunch of people who were busy chanting something and was carried away.

He had the worst luck as Mokona, too, was brought away, (it had fainted when Kuro-chan landed on him, you see…) leaving him stranded among the branches of the tree. When he finally managed to free himself, up came a group of people dragging carcasses of dead animals. They spotted him and dragged him along with them to their hideout.

Kurogane had thought that they were the same as the people who had brought Syaoran and Mokona, so he allowed himself to be dragged along. When he tried to ask them about Syaoran, he found out that they did not understand his speech… due to Mokona's absence. The fact that he 'needed' that silly manju made him even more irate.

He almost wished that he was with that annoying sorcerer/mage… whatever from Celes right now… ALMOST. Sighing deeply for the hundredth time to himself, he tried again to ask them about Syaoran… when an old man approached him.

"H-Hello?" the old man asked warily.

"_Huh? That old man talked Japanese… maybe…"_

"Do-you-speak-Japanese?" Kurogane phrased slowly, afraid that the man couldn't hear quite well.

"Aah! It speaks!" the person cried and turned to mumble something to his companions.

"_It?"_ the ninja's eyebrows twitched.

"I'm so sorry… uh, young man… They thought you were some sort of exotic animal…" the old man sort of apologized to Kurogane earning another eyebrow twitch from the latter.

"_Animal! What the-" _but he forced himself to remain calm. Instead, he asked:

"You, old man, tell me where your friends bring a young guy and a round white thing off to."

"What?"

"_Is he deaf!" _Kurogane rephrases, "A-young-man-and-a-white-round-thing-with-long-ears. Where-are-they?"

"White round thing? Long ears?"

"Yes."

The old man smiled and whispered to someone beside him, who disappeared for a moment then returned, holding a bag with something struggling in it. The old man handed the bag over to Kurogane who looked at it questioningly.

"_Somehow, I have a feeling that this is not what I think it is…" _he said to himself and slowly opened the bag.

Out jumped a white, furry and very alarmed… rabbit.

"What the--!"

"_This is going to be a very long day…"_

**Note: So, how was it? I'm currently having a very disturbed sense of humor… Heh heh… Oh and about Mokona, I know someone mentioned that it's a 'he' but I find hard to put it into a sentence… Like the above one with Syaoran… That sentence would have been flooded with 'he's and will likewise make everyone confused as to whom I'm referring to… So, I guess I'll stick with using 'it' throughout this fanfic. Gomen, ne?**

**Reviews, please! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Note: Chapter 5! Some people might be wondering how long will I keep dragging on the same story in the same world… Um, I guess for another 2 chapters? I'm trying to follow the anime, see? Normally, Syaoran and co. will linger on in one world for about 6 or 7 episodes… Give the world and characters more depth, you know…**

**Disclaimer: You must be getting bored on reading this… but I really do not own anything here…**

**TSUBASA RESERVOIR CHRONICLES**

**SEARCHING FOR THE LIGHT**

**CHAPTER 5: CONFRONTATION**

"Why don't we climb up?" Mokona suggested, pointing upwards.

"Up? Why?" Syaoran asks from his position amongst the tree branches.

"You know… We fell from up there, right? So… if we climb high enough, maybe we can reach the city?" speculated Mokona as it rocked on its feet.

That exchange was the cause of Syaoran beginning his hours-long climb up the tree and thus triggered another event later on…

Fai was sitting a short distance away from the 'hole' with Sakura asleep beside him. When he witnessed both Syaoran and Kurogane fall through the hole, he intended to follow them also but he realized that Sakura would then be alone in this foreign place...

He tried to reassure her of their comrades' safety and found out that Sakura doesn't understand him. Looking around to locate their guide/translator, he finally realized that it too was missing. Probably jumped after Syaoran and Kuro-rin… he tells himself and settled himself and the princess a discreet distance away from the area.

Although Sakura-chan would probably not understand a word he says, he talked to her reassuringly in his own language. Sakura at first looked questioningly at him but after some time she smiled knowingly. She must have understood his intentions of telling her not to worry… he muses quietly.

When night falls, he gestured towards the city, wanting her to rest up before returning the next day but she slowly shook her head. Drawing her cloak (cape?) around her more tightly to ward off the cold air, she slowly nodded off to sleep. Fai smiled at that.

Even though she has lost her memories of Syaoran, she still worries about him greatly. Fai had noticed the worried expression she often wore when Syaoran left to accomplish something, mostly dangerous, on his own. She often hides her worries for Syaoran with a smile though… because Sakura-chan doesn't want Syaoran to have any doubts when he goes off, Fai added, smiling.

Anyone could see the depth of their feelings for each other… Perhaps Yuuko would see this too and let them be together…

"There it is! The clouds are just further up! Go Syaoran-san! Go Syaoran-san!" Mokona cheered as the white mass above them draw ever closer.

"Just… another… few… steps… more…"

The sky grew brighter as a new day approaches. Fai watched as Sakura stirred from her sleep and woke up, blinking her eyes to clear her vision. Smiling brightly, he greeted her:

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!"

"Hn? Ah, good morning Fai-san. Is it morning already?" she replied, looking around her to remember where she was.

_Eh? Did we just—_

"Syaoran-kun!" Sakura suddenly cried out and ran towards the hole.

Fai followed her and when they neared the hole where Syaoran had fell through, Fai saw said person sitting next to it and panting. Mokona was perched happily on his shoulder and leapt towards Sakura as she neared them.

"Syaoran-kun… Are you alright?" Sakura asked concerned as she kneeled near him with Mokona snuggling happily in her arms.

Syaoran turned towards her and nodded, still exhausted after his long climb up the tree. He withdrew something from his cloak and showed it to Sakura, smiling.

"My feather!" she gasped and looks at Syaoran admiringly.

"Syaoran-kun… where's Kuro-wan?" Fai interrupted as he saw no sign of the ninja anywhere.

"_Gah! Don't they understand anything! Damn it all!"_ Kurogane was hollering as the old man he was talking to gave him puzzled looks as he tried to tell him about his search for his companions.

"_Okay, one more time… If this doesn't work then… they can't blame me for not trying…" _he muttered to himself and took a deep breath to calm himself.

As he opened his mouth to explain his motives once again, the group of people suddenly whispered among themselves and parted to let a middle-aged woman pass through. The old man saluted her in their language and whispered something into her ear, pointing occasionally at Kurogane.

The woman approached him and cocked her head to one side. When Kurogane returned her look with a glare, she laughed loudly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! They mistook you for an animal! Oh, that is so funny!" she said while attempting to stifle her laughter.

His eyebrows twitched.

"Ah, I mean um… ahem!" she stopped laughing when she noticed his not-too-friendly look. "The elder here told me you're looking for your friends?" she continued in a more subdued voice.

The ninja nodded silently.

"Ah… could it be a young man with this sword?" she asked, holding out a very familiar-looking sword towards Kurogane.

He got up quickly and peered closely at it. It was definitely Syaoran's. The woman must have seen his surprised face as he recognized the sword and she hands it over to him.

"That boy escaped not long ago with another of your friend… the white thing," she continued smiling.

Turning around, she dismissed the group behind her and when the place has been emptied, she sat down before Kurogane.

"Am I wrong in assuming that you are sent by my ambitious husband?" she sighed, looking sadly at him.

"Anyway, let's return to the palace and report this to the king," Syaoran finished after he spent some time explaining what had happened to him to Fai and Sakura.

"Yes. Then maybe… the king would send some of his people to search for Kurogane-san," Sakura agreed.

"Kuro-wan will be fine, Sakura-chan! Don't worry!" Mokona adds jumping up and down on Sakura's shoulder.

"Yes, that right. Kuro-rin is so hard that even millions of sharp pointy things won't attach themselves to his thick skin…" Fai said humorously causing Sakura to giggle.

Meanwhile, said ninja sneezed.

"Are you sick?" the woman asked concernedly.

"No, I'm fine," he replied, trudging right behind her. _Someone's talking about me… _he muttered softly to himself and without bidding, the image of Fai's silly grin invaded his thoughts.

"ARGH! Stay out of my head!"

"You've returned!" the king greeted them excitedly as they met him in his study.

"Have you found it? The God's gift?" he asked rapidly, his eyes gleaming eerily.

Syaoran somehow felt a little uneasy about handing the feather to the king. He heard some sort of commotion going on outside of the study and was growing suspicious but when Sakura tugged at his cloak and looked imploringly at him, he gave in and pulled out the orb-encased feather out of his cloak.

The king let out a great whoop and made a grab for the orb. At that moment, the door of the study crashed and Kurogane rushed in with his sword (katana?) unsheathed. Behind him was a middle-aged woman.

"Don't give him the orb!" she shouted as she saw Syaoran handing said object to the king.

But it was already too late for the king managed to swipe the object and gave a hysterical laugh.

"Now, all men will fear my powers! Not even the gods can stop me now!"

Kurogane dashed forward and swung the sheath of his sword (maybe katana is more suitable, hm?) in an attempt to knock the orb out of the king's hands but a wall of unseen energy hit him hard and he was thrown into the wall.

Laughing madly all the while, the king made off with the orb towards the adjoining room.

"We must stop him before he destroys the people on the land!" the woman warned and ran after the king.

"Ugh… the woman's right… He'll use the feather's powers to destroy the people on the land," Kurogane said as he staggered to his feet.

"What-" Syaoran began when he was stopped by Kurogane shaking his head.

"Let's go after them. I'll explain later," he said and ran after the disappearing woman and the crazed king.

**FLASHBACK**

"That man… he wanted to misuse the power of the heaven-sent gift… When he first realized its limitless power; he was so absorbed in it and began experimenting on various things…

"At first it was just little things like making it rain when it the kingdom was experiencing a time of drought. Then he started to get even bolder by causing it to rain cold white stuff (snow, loves, snow… if you still haven't figured it out)… The people were terrified at the sudden change but quickly adapted to it, thinking it was a gift from the gods.

"Then one day, I overheard him mumbling about trying to become a god himself! He was attempting to raise the whole kingdom into the skies just to prove that he was equal to the gods! I am unable to stop him so I ran from the palace with all the women and children and some of the men that are willing to follow… in hopes that he will rethink his decision.

"But I didn't expect him to really elevate the kingdom… So, I gather a few of the people here and climbed the great tree (the one that Syaoran climbed earlier) and caused some disturbance in the city. While the guards were distracted, I made my way into the inner chambers of the palace and took the God's gift.

"A few days later, the scouts that I placed to watch the city reported that some strangers appeared suddenly in the skies, in the city outskirts… Those people must have been you and your friends, correct?"

Kurogane repeated her with another nod and she continued:

"At first they thought you were gods that were sent to destroy the city and they tried to stop you from approaching the city, due to my orders… Even though he has become selfish, he is still my husband… But they were shot at; they retreated and reported to me.

"When the scouts who were watching the city saw you and your friends leaving the city the next morning, I managed to guess that you were not one of the gods and thus was tricked into helping my husband to retrieve the God's gift…

"Your young friend unexpectedly dropped onto the priests who were offering prayers to the gods to beg their forgiveness and he was carried to our hideout. Before we could have the chance to explain the situation to him, he took the God's gift and ran away…"

"How do I know that you could be trusted?" Kurogane asked, staring at her intently with his arms crossed. "The king informed us that you would try to confuse us with another story…"

"Well, if you want to know the truth then you should follow us to the palace," the woman countered smiling.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

"So… Kuro-wan… However did you get back up? Syaoran-kun here climbed all the way…" Fai remarks as the group ran after the royal couple.

"There's a strange box-like thing some distance away from the tree… We went into it and the door shuts. Later when it opens, we were at the city," Kurogane replies.

"Box-like thing?" Sakura asks.

"It's an elevator! Mokona knows because Yuuko showed it to Mokona once! It goes up and down, up and down, up and do—"

"Shut up!" Kurogane yelled.

**Note: Whew! All done. So, tell me… was this kind of storyline expected? I think it's kind of predictable since the second chapter… Anyone suspects this to turn out? **

**Well, after all's been said and done, reviews! Oh, and if you're still confused, the thing in the brackets ( ), are author's notes… Not the character's thoughts… **


	6. Chapter 6

**Note: Well, this will be the last chapter in this current world. **

**Disclaimer: Same old, same old… I do not own anything here… blah blah blah… you get the drift…**

**TSUBASA RESERVOIR CHRONICLES**

**SEARCHING FOR THE LIGHT**

**CHAPTER 6: EPILOGUE: ERAUNDIA**

Syaoran and co. were heading towards the inner rooms of the palace, still following the king who had taken Sakura's feather. They had been running for some time now but all that they could hear were the loud footsteps of the king and the woman who was the queen.

Sakura was beginning to tire and Syaoran was worried about her. She was not meant to go through all this hardships. He even contemplated on telling Sakura to wait for him in the room but was deterred from it by the look of determination she had put on. She probably felt that she was partly responsible for asking Syaoran to trust the king in the first place…

As the footsteps in front of them began to stop, they had reached their destination. A vacant area situated in the depths of the palace was before them, the walls were carved in strange figures and symbols. The king was standing in the middle of a wide circle that was drawn hastily on the ground and he was holding out the orb that contains Sakura's feather.

As the queen moved to approach him, she was flung back by a barrier surrounding the king. Digging the heels of her shoes into the stone floor, she managed to stop her sudden propulsion backwards and turned her face to the group.

"He's trying to summon the creator Aegis! He must be planning to destroy the Great God so that he would succeed as the next God," she informed them grimly.

As soon as she had finished saying that, the orb in the hands of the king emitted a sickly green glow and the walls around them starts to crumble. The circle in which the king stood on was beginning to crack due to the tremendous power released by the feather.

"Now! Now appear before me, the Creator Aegis! You who rules over this world! I will defeat you with your own power (meaning the feather. They believe the feather was God's gift, remember?) and succeed you as the Father of all creation!" the king screamed with his eyes facing upwards, as if he could see God descending from that position.

"He's gone mad!" Kurogane yelled amidst the noise of the violent wind swirling around the king and the ever-depreciating condition of the walls in big chunks.

Syaoran resolved to do something about it before it was too late and after making sure that Sakura was a safe distance away, he fingered his sword that Kurogane had returned to him a moment ago.

_Better do something now before this all gets worse… Sakura will be fine with them…_

Strange clouds formed above the king and they could see a dark form materializing inside it. As the speed of the wind picked up, a large, square object began to descend from the ominous cloud.

_This is their God? _Syaoran thought to himself as he watched the roof start to fall in due to the great gathering of power in the area.

Grasping his sword firmly in his left hand and his right hand placed on the hilt, he stooped, waiting for an opening in the barrier created by the king. Fai noticed his stance and discreetly pulled Sakura further away so she wouldn't notice it. Kurogane however just looked at Syaoran expressionlessly but did not move to stop him.

The woman was not aware of the things happening behind her as she kept on shouting to her husband to stop his 'mad scheme'. When her pleas were ignored, she picked up a small stone by her feet and flung it towards him with all her might. The stone was not able to pass through the barrier as expected, but did manage to catch the attention of the king.

As he turned around angrily to face her, Syaoran spotted his chance and sprint forward as he unsheathed his sword in one fluid movement. The king noticed this sudden move and directed a huge blast of energy in his direction. Syaoran saw it speeding towards him and dodged in time.

"You dare defy me!" he shouted as he aimed the orb at Syaoran.

Before the king could release another attack, Syaoran rammed into the king, knocking him off balance and he accidentally dropped the orb.

"The God's gift!"

The descent of the world's God was halted and the square-like object began to disperse as the both of them scrambled for the orb. When the dark cloud disappeared altogether, a large piece of the ceiling fell in and almost hit them but for the intervention of Kurogane.

He had perceived the danger and had used his katana to slice through the falling object before it fell on anyone. Syaoran then made a grab for the orb and threw to Fai who was standing next to Sakura, shielding her from the crumbling pieces of rubble.

At that moment, the structure failed to support itself any longer and began to fall apart. Kurogane dragged Syaoran and ran towards the exit as Fai ran with Sakura in tow.

"Wait! The woman…" Syaoran protests as he looked back.

"Don't worry, I saw them going out by another route…" the ninja assured him as he continues to drag Syaoran out of the collapsing building.

Finally making their way out, they saw the many people of the city were staring at the top of the crumbling palace. Turning their attention upwards, they saw the king and the woman standing on the roof of the structure.

"The king!" a voice cried and they saw Phil running towards the falling palace.

Syaoran moved to stop him but the entrance caved in behind Phil. The populace watch in horror as the royal couple stumbled on their way down and fell into a hole in the deteriorating roof. With a deafening crash, the palace fell apart and left a cloud of dust in its wake.

"Phil-san…" Mokona said worriedly as it watched the destruction in front of them.

The next morning, they were helping the people of the city to clear up the remains of the palace when a sudden movement under a large stone slab gained their attention. Gathering some amount of people, they lifted the slab and found the bodies of the king, the queen and Phil.

As the crowd swarmed towards the bodies, the queen made a slight movement before lying still once again. A few of the men ran over to their city's doctor while the others carried the queen to a nearby house.

Syaoran bend over the remaining bodies and tried to check their pulse.

"Syaoran-san… are they really…" Mokona asked pathetically as it watched sadly from Sakura's arms.

Syaoran got up and facing Mokona, he shook his head slowly, a sign that they were indeed… dead.

"Phil-san…"

After three days of lying unconscious in the bed, the queen finally awoke on the fourth day. Hearing about the death of her husband and Phil cause her to visibly pale but she insisted to meet the other survivors of the palace's downfall.

As Syaoran, Sakura, Fai and Kurogane (and Mokona of course) entered the room, she gestured them to be seated as she told them what had actually happened as they tried to escape.

"My husband… he… he returned to normal in his final moments… He told me to apologize to all of you… for deceiving you… He's… a kind man…

"Phil was loyal to the end… He was always loyal to the royal family… Did he tell you? He was the one who secretly opened the city gates that night to let us escape… He was also the one who told the scouts that my husband sent not to give out my location…

"Phil told me before he… that you are not from this world… The feather in the orb… it belongs to you, right?" she asked, looking at Sakura who nodded slowly.

"Then… take it… I… our kingdom… don't need it… Power only brings so much grief…" she finished sadly as they were escorted out of the room.

That night, as they prepare their things to leave the next morning, Syaoran returned the feather to Sakura. As Sakura opened her eyes after the feather had turned itself into her memories, she looked at Syaoran cheerlessly.

"Syaoran-kun… I… must get all of my feathers back… I don't want… other people to suffer anymore… because of me… everyone… I…" she broke down and covered her face with her hands, sobbing.

"Hime…" Syaoran tried to place a comforting hand on her shoulders but stopped.

"_The memories that you share together will be no more…" Yuuko had said, during the start of their adventures. "Even if you retrieve her memories, she will never be able to remember you,"_

Clenching his hand, he abandoned the thought of ever touching Sakura. He did not want her to experience another of that incident…

"Hime… we will get your feathers back… I promise," he said simply as he looked at Sakura, trying to comfort her with his words.

Sakura looked up at him and wiped away her tears with her hands. She smiled at him genuinely.

"Syaoran-kun… You're the kindest person ever… Thank you… I feel much better now…"

"Ready? Let's go to the next world!" Mokona said cheerfully, as if everything that has transpired had never happened at all.

_The next world… this time I will not let Sakura to be sad anymore…_

**Note: Oh yeah! Finally done! Phew, it's tiring… It's a bit sudden though, the ending, don't you think? Hm… I've been having writer's block the whole three hours I sit in front of my PC typing this whole thing out… Ugh! Writer's block… **

**Right, the next world will maybe (MAYBE) be a bit light… I think this is too depressing… It's so cruel of me to suddenly kill two characters suddenly… Oh, cruel, cruel me!**

**Anyways, reviews please! If you have any ideas to give me or anything… Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Note: Eheh… sorry for the long wait… Did anyone miss the series? …I guess not… Mou… I'm not appreciated… (sniff) **

**Disclaimer: Like before, I do not own anything here…**

**TSUBASA RESERVOIR CHRONICLES**

**SEARCHING FOR THE LIGHT**

**CHAPTER 7: PURSUIT**

As the wind around them caused by their 'world-traveling' cleared, Syaoran looked around warily. The group was standing on top of a cliff, surrounded by grassy plains and exotic-looking flowers.

Syaoran made a mental check on their small group. Sakura-hime… Fai-san… Kurogane-san… Mokona… Great, it seems that they are together. Now, the next step is to locate the all-important feather…

"Is that smoke coming from that village?" Sakura suddenly mentioned to no one in particular, her gaze fixed in the direction of the small village below the cliff that they were standing on.

Their gaze all followed hers and saw thick black smoke blanketing the afore-mentioned village.

"You think we should check it out?" Fai asked Syaoran calmly.

"We really shouldn't. Nothing comes of sticking our noses into things like this," Kurogane expressed, crossing his arms and giving Fai 'the look'.

"Mokona thinks we should help out! Maybe Mokona will be able to locate Sakura-chan's feather there," the white manju piped up from Sakura's arms.

"Aww… Kuro-pon... Are you afraid of the bad guys that might be hiding somewhere in the suspicious-looking village?" drawled Fai in his lazy tone, causing the ninja to twitch.

Syaoran quickly voiced his agreement to avoid the building-up tension between the two and lead the group down the cliff towards the village.

Reaching the village, they saw the residents of said place were acting indifferent towards the black smoke emitting from one of the houses there. They were moving about gaily and chatting happily with their neighbors, ignoring that particular house, as if nothing at all has happened.

Puzzled by their actions, Syaoran wondered if they were once again dumped into another strange world with bizarre customs. He hoped not… but it seems that the thought was becoming more and more valid as a woman with extremely long white hair stumbled out of the house, coughing and fluttering her hands in an attempt to clear the air around her.

"Ah! Not again! No, no, no, no, no! Not again!" she cried in a frenzy as she run around her house, probably finding some way to… remedy the condition her house has become.

As the group stood there staring at her acts, the other villagers ignored her and moved away further to avoid her presence.

Sakura then moved towards the woman who has stopped her fruitless running around and had sat there sobbing loudly. Syaoran, worried that Sakura will come to harm, followed her.

Sakura bend down a little and gingerly tapped the woman's shoulder to get her attention. Suddenly the woman jumped up, maybe from shock at being touched or something, and whirled around to face them.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked concernedly, as the woman's eyes grew bigger and all of a sudden, the woman glomped Sakura, startling Syaoran but earning a confused look from the princess.

Before anyone could react, the woman let go of Sakura and looked at her closely. As Fai and Kurogane approached them, the woman smiled broadly and dragged Sakura into the house she had vacated earlier.

"My! I seldom have visitors! Please make yourselves comfortable! Oh, and pardon the mess… my experiment failed once again… I wonder what went wrong?" the woman chattered on as she sidestepped pieces of broken glass and wood that was littered on the floor of her place.

Stopping at what seemed to be the sitting room; she pulled out a few cushions from a big wooden box in a corner and placed in around a blackened table. (They were supposed to sit on the cushions on the floor before a… 'shorter' table? Uh, is that sentence right?)

Smiling all the while, she withdrew into another room and emerge a moment later bearing a tray of tea things. Syaoran and the others had settled somewhat awkwardly around the table as she poured tea into small cups and passed it to them.

"So, what do you want with old Erna?" the woman queried as she sat opposite them and folded her hands on her lap.

"What happened here, oba-san?" Mokona asks as it hopped onto the table.

The woman blinked and curiously reached out a finger towards Mokona, poking it warily. Mokona giggled at the attention and bounced up and down, rattling the cups of tea.

"Wherever did you find this? Is this a doll or something? How do you make it move? I've never seen anything like it…" the woman marveled.

"Uh… well, Mokona is…" Syaoran began when Kurogane interrupts.

"It's a white manju that can speak,"

Silence. Everyone except Mokona and Kurogane sweatdrops. The woman blinks again and removed her hands from its constant poking of Mokona.

"Uh… right… Anyways, why are you here to see me?" she asks again, averting her eyes from Mokona to her visitors.

"Is there any strange happenings in this country lately? We're traveling around to… collect materials for a book…" Syaoran replied, struggling a little to find a suitable reason for his question.

"A book? So, you're a writer? You don't look like one though…" the woman comments, as she looks at him from head to toe. "But I guess I'm not one to say that... I'm an inventor myself, do you know that?"

"Inventor?" Fai wonders, tilting his head to one side.

"Yes! I make useful objects for the people like this here back-scratcher…" at that she pointed to a wooden stick with a misshapen mesh of wire at one end, on the wall next to her. "This here back-scratcher is specially designed so that it can relieve the itch of hard-to-reach areas on your back without twisting your whole body around! It can also be used to clean the drain-holes of your house toilet and…"

Then, she started to elaborate on the various 'wonders' of the back-scratcher that she had invented and how she was going to report her plans to the other villagers during village meetings but was stopped by her granddaughter. She droned on and on non-stop until all of them began to nod off when she suddenly returns back to Syaoran's question.

"But about the strange happenings… My granddaughter is serving as a high-ranking priestess in the temple not far from this village and she told me about the disappearance of the head priest three months ago…

"It was covered up by them so no one knows of it but… my granddaughter told me that they found several pieces of paper on his desk and it seems that he was researching something…

"The temple has sent out a few people to search for the head priest but they cannot locate him in the near vicinities of the village… Lately, my granddaughter has been very busy and she didn't tell me much news about the temple anymore… I wonder if they're trying to do something over there…"

The woman stopped and sipped her tea slowly.

"Oh, by the way, would you young ones be interested to write something of my inventions in your book? It's not like I'm desperate or anything, you know… but people from other villages should also be given a chance to benefit from my inventions too, don't you think?"

When she looks up from her cup to give Syaoran a knowing-look, she discovered that they had disappeared.

"That woman gets on my nerve," mutters Kurogane as the group quickly moved away from the house they had entered earlier.

"But her inventions are really something, don't you think? It'll really help people to scratch those hard-to-reach areas and it can also be used as a cleaning utensil. It's a pity that Celes doesn't have such so-called 'inventors'…" Fai voiced out his opinion, earning a strange look from Syaoran and Kurogane.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

"Fai-san's country doesn't have any inventors?" Syaoran questioned curiously.

"I think his country is crazy enough with just him to want other crazy inventors…"

"Kuro-pon! That's so harsh! You're hurting Fai-san's feelings! Really, you can't say that especially since you haven't even been there before! I believe Celes is…"

"…a wonderful place if Fai-san is a part of it…"

Everyone turned to Sakura, who had uttered the last sentence. She had on a faraway look in her eyes as she clasped her hand and imagined a place with cerulean blue skies and delicate flowers like those that she had found back in Clow Kingdom.

"It must be a place where the soil has a rich earthy smell and carpeted with the greenest of grass… The ever-blue skies must be filled with exotic birds with long colorful plumes and melodious voices… And there are plenty of lakes and ponds with shy carps weaving in and out amongst the roots of the water lilies that dotted the bodies of water…"

Sakura opened her eyes slowly as if waking from a trance and look at Fai with sparkling eyes.

"I believe Celes is such a place… Right, Fai-san?"

"Sakura-chan… Yes, Celes is as you say… You have described it in such beautiful words… Thank you, Sakura-chan," Fai replied, giving Sakura a warm smile.

The princess returned the smile.

"Is that the temple?" Mokona asked as they approached a white domed building amidst a bustling city.

"I think so… Let's ask someone," Syaoran answered and walked towards the closest passerby to confirm it.

"It's so lively here compared to the village where oba-san lived," Mokona added, looking around.

"It seems that no one suspects the missing head priest yet…" Fai comments as he saw a few people enter and leave the domed building.

Syaoran appeared then and brought word confirming the identity of the building and also of the unawareness of the people regarding the absence of the head priest.

"So, what should we do now? Enter the temple?" Kurogane asks.

"I think we should get a room first since it's almost night and…"

"Syaoran-san, maybe you should change your outfits. People are giving us weird looks…" Mokona whined as they realized the people are stopping and staring at them.

"Oh dear… Another time?" Fai sighs happily as they made their way to the nearest clothing store.

**Note: Whew! It's kind of tiring to type all this in one go after such a long stop… But the long rest has replenished my ideas' storage so I could write better next time!**

**So, tell me what you think of this chapter, okay? I need to know if I'm backsliding or improving… **

**As a side note, does anyone think if I should put my email add in here? I'm afraid of getting all those junk mails, though… but it's also a good way to get comments from people too… hmm…**


	8. Chapter 8

**Note: Have anyone seen the movie? It's quite fast paced isn't it? And Tomoyo-hime made an appearance! I'm surprised Kurogane didn't show much more emotion than he did in the movie…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa Chronicles. If I do, I would've finished it first before letting the public view it…**

**TSUBASA RESERVOIR CHRONICLES**

**SEARCHING FOR THE LIGHT**

**CHAPTER 8: MYSTERY**

Syaoran gaped openmouthed at the vision before him. Sakura stood there, before a full-length mirror in the clothes store, staring intently at her own reflection. A crowd was forming at the entrance as the other customers in the store paused in whatever they were doing to stare at Sakura.

She had on a long white robe with yellow borders around the hems of the sleeves. It was a pretty normal dress but for the obscenely high slit at the front of the robe, revealing her legs whenever she moved. In addition, the neckline of the robe is also too low for comfort as it revealed too much of Sakura-hime's skin…

Syaoran blushed furiously as he quickly banished the thought from his head and approached the store-keeper, who was standing by the side and was smiling approvingly at the image of Sakura in the dress.

"Uh, sir, I think you got us wrong… We requested for a priestess robe for the lady over there," Syaoran began, looking towards Sakura, "but… uh…"

"That's exactly what I've given you," the man explained, not tearing his eyes away from Sakura, "that's what the priestesses wore in the temple." Shrugging, he turned to look at Syaoran. "You people are not from around here are you?"

"Uh…"

"Nah, forget it. I don't need to know. But, you must've been fooled if the person who told you that a position as a priestess at yon temple," he pointed towards the general direction of the temple, "is a great and honorable profession…"

"Sakura-chan! You look great in that outfit! You should wear those kinds of clothes more often seeing as it can even make Syaoran-san turn red!" Mokona chirped, giggling mischievously as Sakura made eye contact with Syaoran and he turned away quickly, turning even redder.

Kurogane frowned. "I think it's inappropriate for a princess to dress up like a whor-"

"Kuro-pon! No badmouthing Sakura-chan in public! You should be ashamed of yourself!" Fai mockingly scolds as he stepped out from the dressing room, clad in priestly garb which happens to be very decent priestly robes.

"What! I'm telling the truth! Tomoyo-hime doesn't dress like that either!" retorts the ninja, turning around to face Fai.

"Yes, yes. I know Tomoyo-san doesn't dress that way. But the ones that Sakura-chan had on now ARE this country's official clerical robes. We can't do anything about it now, can we?" Fai replied as he walked over to pick up Mokona from the ground, where it stood bouncing up and down.

"Speaking of which, why aren't you dressed up yet? Everyone is ready to go," he added. Pointing a finger at the pile of clothes in a corner he continued, "Aren't those suitable enough for you?"

"This store doesn't have a priest's robes that would fit Kurogane-san," Syaoran answered for the ninja from his position at the counter, trading the clothes they got from their previous world.

"'Doesn't fit'?" Fai wondered aloud. "Ah! You mean Kuro-pon here is too scraggly to fit into any outfit, right?" he discovered and grinned broadly as Mokona giggled even more in his arms.

"Shut up! Besides, nobody would believe that I'm a priest even if I'm dressed as one!" Kurogane defended, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Hm, hm!"

"I thought I told you to shut up!"

"I didn't say anything at all, Kuro-chan" Fai dragged in a sing-song voice, making said person even more pissed off.

"Anyways, we have to get into the temple so Kurogane-san would have to act as our uh… bodyguard or something…" Syaoran concluded, stopping Fai's teasing of Kurogane.

Walking over to Sakura, he handed her her cloak. "Hime, put this on till we reach the temple grounds, alright?" he told her as she nodded and donned the cloak over her dress.

"This temple is big!" Mokona commented once their guide had left them in the waiting room.

"Indeed. It's even bigger than the ones we've been to before…" Fai agreed.

"Hime? Are you okay?" Syaoran asked concernedly, as he noticed Sakura shivering in her seat.

"Hn, I'm fine. It's just… this outfit is a little… drafty…" she finished and tried to warm herself by rubbing her shoulders.

"Maybe you should put on the cloak…" Syaoran suggested, worried, as the sound of footsteps were heard.

"No, it's okay. I'll be fine once we move again," Sakura replied smiling at him.

Syaoran still had on a worried look as they were once again escorted to meet with the one who was in charge of the temple.

They were ushered into a large, and warm Syaoran noted, room where a person sat behind a screen, features shielded from them. Their guide left, quietly closing the door behind him. The person seated behind the screen shifted and reached for something that was placed beside.

"Are you here to enroll as priests?" the person asked, the voice clearly belonged to a man. Without waiting for them to answer, he continued, "The temple welcomes you, young people. You'll be granted a three-month's trial period where we will see if your hearts are pure enough to serve in the temple. Once the trial period is over and we find you pleasing, you will be officially initiated as priests… and priestess," he added, noticing Sakura.

"A senior priest will escort you to your living quarters until you are given your schedules. You are welcomed to ask the seniors any questions that you may have," he ended and rang a bell as he rise from his seat and moved away in the opposite direction in a hurry.

The door opened and a young priestess walked in. She, too, was dressed in the inappropriate-looking robes of her position as priestess. Nodding briefly to them, she turned to look at the disappearing figure behind the screen and sighed in relief. Smiling cheerfully at them, she indicated that they should follow her and lead them through a long corridor.

After a few minutes distance from the room they had left from, she stopped and turned to face the group.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Raine, the one who is in charge of all the priestess in this temple."

"Raine-san, your name is very special, do you know?" Mokona chirped suddenly from its position on Fai's shoulders.

The girl was taken aback at first; either from receiving such a comment or hearing Mokona speak, but recovered quickly.

"Thank you. It's the first time anyone has ever praised my name…" she answered and patted Mokona on the head, making the manjuu giggle and bop around.

"Raine-san, may we ask you a few questions?" Syaoran interfered as he realized the girl had relaxed a bit.

Nodding her assent, she waited for Syaoran to continue.

"We've been hearing strange rumors about the temple when we were passing through a few villages… About the absence of the head priest--"

"There's no such thing!"

The group was startled by her reaction. They could see that she had suddenly tensed up again and her smile had disappeared as she stood there rigidly. Shaking her head forcefully as if to clear away some thoughts, she started to walk forward at a fast pace without saying another word.

They exchanged glances with each other before running to catch up to her. She silently led them to their separate rooms, which were located in the same block and left without another word.

"Raine-san sure is acting weird a moment ago…" Fai remarked as they gathered in Syaoran's room after dinner.

Temple attendants who refused to utter even a single word when they were questioned brought their dinner to them. As soon as the trays of food were taken back, they silently gathered in Syaoran's room, which happens to be a bit bigger than theirs.

"That's a sign that confirms what the crazy old woman at the previous village told us was true: the head priest is really missing… and I bet the temple people knows about it," Kurogane voiced out from his position beside a window.

Kurogane was not allowed to enter by the temple guards so he had to stay outside while the rest of the group entered the temple. Syaoran had Fai sent Mokona to inform Kurogane of their rooms and had told Mokona to ask Kurogane to somehow meet up with the others in his room to discuss further plans. After explaining everything that has happened earlier, they were now figuring what course of action they should do next.

"We could always ask Raine-san again," suggests Fai from his seat across Syaoran.

"But… wouldn't she be angry at us again? Mokona likes Raine-san so Mokona doesn't want Raine-san to be angry with us…"

"But it seems to be the only way since we don't know anyone here. The temple attendants aren't keen on talking with us either…" Fai added.

"Should I ask Raine-san then?" Sakura volunteered.

They turned to look at her and saw her determined face, meaning that she was serious of her offer to help them out with their situation.

"I think it's a good idea. Since they're both women, it should be easier to get Raine-san to talk if Sakura-chan was the one to ask her," Fai agreed smiling at the princess.

Sakura nodded as she smiled at Fai gratefully. Syaoran's gaze lingered on her for just another second longer before giving his consent too. Kurogane just shrugs and hmphed his opinion on the matter as Mokona began to chant her name repeatedly.

"So, that's settled then. Sakura-hime will ask Raine-san again tomorrow and Kurogane-san…" Syaoran turned towards said ninja, "If you would…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll stay in town and try to uncover some info or something. Remember to inform me if something happens, alright?" he finishes before opening the window and jumped out from it. (Their rooms were near the ground so Kurogane could sneak in and out easily.)

"So, I'll be heading back to my room. Goodnight Syaoran-kun, Sakura-chan," Fai greeted before walking out of the room.

"Goodnight Syaoran-san! Goodnight Sakura-chan!" Mokona ended as it followed Fai back to his room.

"Hime, I'll see you back to your room," Syaoran offered as he escorted Sakura to her room, which was situated at the end of the corridor.

Reaching her room, Sakura opened the door and turned around to smile at Syaoran.

"Thank you, Syaoran-kun. You're really kind,"

"No, it's nothing. Goodnight, Sakura-hime,"

"Hn. Goodnight, Syaoran-kun. I promise I'll try my best tomorrow,"

Syaoran answered with a kind smile and she returned it before shutting the door of her room. He lingered in front of her closed door for some time before finally turning to head back to his room.

**Note: I'm extremely sorry for the long wait, I've been seriously busy these few weeks to type out the story… The next chapter is on the way, so don't worry. I just hope I'll have the time to type and submit it quickly before work pours in again! Mou- Why am I so busy! It's unfair! (sniff)**


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